1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the organization and/or presentation of data. In some embodiments, the present invention relates to the presentation of database search results by a graphical user interface.
2. Background of the Related Art
Presently, many known Internet search engines accept a search request, such as a search string query, over Internet communication links from a user via a user's browser. The user's query initiates a search by a search of a database of web sites, or information about the content of various web sites, and returns “matching” web sites to the user. One such popular search engine is Yahoo.com. Internet search engines are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,822 to Braden-Harder et al, issued on Aug. 3, 1999, assigned to Microsoft Corporation, entitled “Apparatus and Methods from an Information Retrieval System that Employs Natural Language Processing of Search Results to Improve Overall Precision,” and is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Typically, Internet search engines rank search results in numerical order based upon some relevance criteria. Search engines typically download their search results comprising a numerical ranking as a sequential textual list of matching web sites, which is subsequently displayed by the user's browser. For example, the first page of a search result may provide a numerically ordered listing of the first 10 or 20 web sites matching a user's search criteria. To view a listing of the next 10 or 20 web sites, a new page of the search results typically must be downloaded, and so on. The user typically accesses the list of the next 10 or 20 web sites by clicking on “next” icon at the bottom of the browser display page.
The textual list for each matching web site usually includes a short description of each respective web site and a “hyperlink” to the site to enable the user to access the web site. This typical prior art presentation of search results provides no further grouping of matching web sites. The numerically ordered group is presented in a textual long list. Oftentimes, the search results are altered to place certain results at the top of the list for a fee, whether or not they are most relevant to the user's query.
Some search engines are capable of searching one or more databases of web sites that include numerous categories and subcategories among which the web sites are grouped. The categories can be organized, for example, in multiple layers, or levels, each such layer or level being more specific than the previous one, such as in a hierarchical “category tree”. For example, near the top level of such a tree, e.g., the first level below the root level, may contain numerous, perhaps 10 or 20 general or “parent” categories. For instance, Arts, Business, Sports, and Science may be examples of such parent categories. Each parent category may be further divided into more specific subcategories. For instance, a Sports category can be further subdivided into subcategories such as Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Hockey. Each first level subcategory can be further subdivided into even more specific (lower level) subcategories. For instance, the first level subcategory, Baseball, can be divided into second level subcategories, such as College, Fantasy, Major League, and Minor League. Some or all of the second level subcategories may be further divided into third level subcategories, and so on. This branching of the category tree continues as far as the web directory or database provides, until all categories and subcategories are included.
With the use of the category tree generally described above, each web site in the database can be assigned or has a “category path.” For instance, for a search under the query “cars”, a search engine may identify numerous category paths for the matching web sites that satisfy the query. The following are examples of such category paths:
SPORTS: AUTO RACING: DRAG RACING: FUNNY CARS
HOME: CONSUMERS: INFORMATION: PRODUCT REVIEWS: AUTOS
ARTS: MUSIC: BANDS AND ARTISTS: C: THE CARS
SPORTS: AUTO RACING: DRAG RACING: PERSONAL
Referring to the first exemplary category path above, the first listed term “SPORTS” is referred to herein as the “parent category”, the next term “AUTO RACING” being the “first level subcategory” followed by the “second level subcategory” “DRAG RACING” and so on, each category/subcategory separated by a colon “:”.
Some search engines are capable of downloading and presenting the user with the category paths associated with the matching web sites in the format of a list spanning numerous pages. This category path format provides a second conventional option for displaying search results, in addition to the aforementioned method of listing the matching web sites in numerically ranked order. Instead of presenting the user with a list of ranked web sites, this category path option presents a textual list of category paths.
Prior art search engines may combine these two search result presentation formats. For example, the first exemplary format may be incorporated into the second format with the use of a hyperlink to a listing of the matching web sites that fall within a particular category path. In one example, text, such as “5 matches found”, may be shown adjacent the category path, such as “SPORTS: AUTO RACING: DRAG RACING: FUNNY CARS (5 matches found).” Selecting or clicking on the text “5 matches found” could lead to a listing of the web sites and links to the sites. Another known data presentation format lists the matching web sites of the category path directly underneath the category path name. Some existing search engines provide access to a listing of all web sites in the entire web directory that fall within a particular category path, such as by the user selecting or clicking on the category path itself.
The prior art organization and presentation of search results, such as matching web sites, presents disadvantages. In some instances, the search results presentation format, such as described above, may be cumbersome, difficult and/or time consuming to utilize, review, navigate, narrow and/or analyze. For example, the list of ranked web sites or category paths may span several web pages and require paging through hundreds or thousands of lines of text to evaluate search results. For another example, search results having category paths that are closely associated with each other, such as SPORTS: AUTO RACING: DRAG RACING: FUNNY CARS and SPORTS: AUTO RACING: DRAG RACING: PERSONAL, may not even be on the same page of the search results. For yet another example, in known presentation formats, category paths may be included in the matching category list for which no matching web sites exist, rendering the search results entirely or substantially useless, severely degrading the utility of search results or making the search results even more difficult to use and navigate. Thus, there is a need for a data presentation and/or navigation method or apparatus that concisely presents relevant data to the user, aggregates the data elements, enables the user to efficiently evaluate and review the data, or address one or more of the other concerns or disadvantages referenced above or inferred from this patent, or otherwise advances the technology of data organization, presentation or navigation.
It should be noted that the above-described prior art and the features and disadvantages thereof are only examples. Merely by mentioning such example prior art features and disadvantages, it is not intended that each claim of this patent be limited to exclude each such feature and disadvantage. Accordingly, none of the appended claims should be limited in any way by the above discussion or construed to exclude the cited prior art features or disadvantages, except and only to the extent as may be expressly stated in a particular claim.